Ring for packages and method of making the same



June 2, 1942.

C. G.-HE NSLEY RING FOR PACKAGES AND ME'IB O D OFM AKING THE SAME Fi ledJan. 24, 19;

IINVENTOR Patented June 2, 1942 7 KING FOR PACKAGES AND METHOD or MAKINGTHE SAME Charles G. Hensley, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Theodora B.Frost, Baldwin, N. Y.

Application January 24, 1938, Serial No. 186,623

7 Claims.

My invention relates to a method and product. The product comprises aring adapted to be snapped over the edge of a pie plate or cake plate toclamp down a covering sheet of Cellophane or other transparentprotective material, for the purpose of forming a package to enclosepies, cakes, or other articles. Preferably, the present ring is used inconjunction with a plate or support such as is shown in the UnitedStates patents to George S. Frost, No. 2,041,537 and No. 2,157,407,although the present ring is not limited to use with this type of plateor support.

The object of my invention is to provide a ring for the purposedescribed,- which will be very inexpensive to manufacture, which can bemade very rapidly, and which willefliciently serve as a snap ring forpackages. ages, especially for food products, must be sold at a very lowprice because the manufacturer of the product has no way of reimbursinghimself for the cost of the package except for the en- 7 hancedappearance of the goods and the fact that the goods will keep longer inthis type of package, therefore for a package. to be commerciallysuccessful'the various parts must be produced at a low cost, which isthe object of this invention.

The various rings heretofore made have had to' be produced by machinesin successive order, so

that the production of the rings was'limited to the speed at which asingle strip couldbe passed through the machine. Under the presentinvention it is possible to take sheets of cardboard or similar stock,and pass it through a machine which will simultaneously produce a numberof 1 Inasmuch as packtimes greater than the production from machines asnow employed in making rings.

Under the present invention a sheet of board a is provided withrone or anumber ofv grooves adapted to receive the outer edgeof a pie plate i orsimilar article, and the groove or grooves is L or are formed by arouting operation which cuts a groove or grooves in the stock partwaythrough. This makes it unnecessay to fold the stock or perform any otheroperations to createthe inas it is fed through the machine at one time,

it is possible to form a number of strips simultaneously, therebyproviding a machine having a large production so that the cost ofmanufacture of the rings is reduced to the lowest possible figure,

It is preferable, as illustrated in the drawing forming part of thiscase, to perform the routing operation on the sheet of stock and to slitor cut the sheet into individual strips immediately following therouting operation, so' that the routing operation is performed inmultiple rows on each sheet as it is fed to the machine and by slittingor cutting the sheet into strips immediately following the routingoperation, no intermediate handling is required between the routingoperation and the slitting operation. Not only can the series of groovesbe routed when the operation is performed by'multiplerouting members inparallel relation more accurately than if a single strip were fedthrough the machine, but the slitting operation can be performed betweenadjacent grooves. formed by the routing operation, so that the sheet ofstock may be not only rapidly and accurately routed but it can also beaccurately and rapidly slit or cut into individual strips. v

The strips may be shipped in flat condition and they may be afterwardsbent into the form of rings, and the ends secured by the consumer of theproduct, or this operation may be performed at the point ofmanufacture-of the strips and the completed rings may be shipped to theconsumers, ready for use, and for this purpose they may be pressed flatin order to permit them to be packed in compact formto keep down thefreight charges.

Other features and advantages of my invention will be set forth in thefollowing detailed description.

In the drawing forming part of this application:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine which may beused to carry out mymethod and to make theimproved product, in which View a portion of thesuction device is broken away to show the parts below it,

Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a, sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a strip formed according to myinvention,

Figure 5 shows a strip after it has been bent into a ring, and the endssecured together to complete thearticle, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the middle of a pie package with myimproved ring attached thereto,

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing a modified form of groove.

I will first describe the ring made according to my invention and thendescribe the method and machine for making the same.

In Figure 4 I have shown a strip I of stock, such as cardboard orsimilar material, the thickness of which will be such as to permit theformation of a groove by a routing operation as distinguished fromfolding over the edges of the material to form a groove between thefolds. In this view I have shown the strip I from which a single ringmay be made, and this strip is provided with a longitudinal groove 2which extends inwardly from one face of the strip, and preferably thedepth of this groove is about half the thickness of the strip. I haveshown the groove as centrally located in regard to the width of thestrip, although it will be apparent that this particular relationshipmay be varied, if desired, so that a greater portion of the strip maylie either above or below the flange of the support to which it isapplied.

The width of the groove will be such as to permit it to receive theouter edge of the plate or other support so that the side portions 3 ofthe strip on each side of the groove will project inwardly sufficientlyto form shoulders above and below the edge of the support. The presentinvention is not limited to specific measurements, but I have found thata satisfactory strip may be made one inch in width, with thelongitudinal groove 2 one-quarter inch in width. The grooves 2 are shownas having rectangular sides and a flat bottom, although'it will beobvious that the walls of the groove may be rounded as shown in Figure7. In some cases the latter form of groove may be preferred as it may bemade by a cleaner routing operation, and for other reasons.

The strip may be sold as shown in Figure 4, for the consumer to bend itinto a ring and attach the ends together or the ring may be completed atthe location where the strips are made.

I have shown the strip having one end 4 chamfered to gradually reducethe thickness of the strip at one end, and the opposite end 5 ischamfered in the opposite direction to the end 6, so that when the stripis bent into a circle with the groove portion 2 at the inside of thecircle, the chamfered ends 4, 5 may be overlapped to form a mitred joint6 as shown in Figures 5, thus making a neat joint to enhance theappearance of the ring and to make it set more perfectly on the packagesupport. The mitred ends of the strip may be secured together by gluingor past ing the overlapping surfaces, or the ends may be attachedtogether by wire stitching, as desired.

In Figure 6 I have shown a pie package which includes the type of plateshown in the above mentioned patent and application of George S. Frost,together with one of my improved rings applied thereto. In this View thepie plate, which may be of the moulded pulp variety, consists of abottom wall 1 having an inclined outer portion 8 at the upper edge ofwhich there is formed an outwardly extending portion 9 and from thisextends outwardly and downwardly a frusto conical flange l0.

The pie II, or other article to be protected, is placed in the plate anda sheet i2 is placed over the article. This sheet is preferably transagewas originally assembled.

parent and for this reason it may be made of Cellophane which istransparent and it is also pliable. The sheet is of such size as toextend over the article II to cover it and it extends beyond the articlesufficiently to permit its edge to be folded around the edge of theflange if! of the plate as shown in Figure 6.

After the sheet I2 has been laid over the article and the plate, one ofthe rings I is applied by bringing it down on the edge of the plate andsnapping it into position. The flange I0 is stiff but bendable and oneof the thick portions 3 of the ring passes the free edge of the flangeI!) as the flange is temporarily bent inwardly and then as one of theportions 3 of the ring passes the free edge of the flange Ill thisflange springs back into shape so that its edge locks in the groove 2 ofthe ring, as shown in Figure 6.

The ring is then clamped in place on the plate and the package remainsthus assembled. When the ring is snapped onto the flange of the plate inthe manner described, it carries the outer portion of the sheet G2 withit and it wraps this around the free edge of the flange It so that thepackage is completely closed over the article when the ring is applied.The ring, of course, holds the sheet i2 assembled on the plate.

To open the package the plate is pressed upwardly in relation to thering and the free edge of the flange Hi passes over the upper thickenedportion 3 of the ring, the flange being temporarily deflected by thisoperation. A piece or pieces may be cut from the pie and then thepackage may be reassembled to protect the unused portion of the pie.

Thi may be done in the same way the pack- The sheet l2 may be placedover the pie (or other article) and. the edge of the plate and then thering is passed downwardly to snap it onto the flange [0. It will beunderstood that the ring may be applied to a plate or other supportwhich is not supplied with the frusto conical flange l6, such as a platewhich terminates in the portion 9, but the ring is held better and thepackage is more air-tight when the conical flange is used.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 I have shown parts of a machine and the preferredmethod of making the strips to form the rings. Herein there is shown arising table [3 to hold a stack of sheets M of cardboard or other stock,from which the strips are to be made. These sheets are preferably ofsuch dimension as regards length, to wit, their left to right dimensionin Figures 1 and 2, to correspond with the size of the rings to be made,and therefore with the length of the strips including the portionsallowed for overlapping of the ends. If desired, the front and back endsof these sheets may be chamfered at 4 and 5 to form the splice of thestrips when they are formed into rings, although the chamfering may bedone after the strips have been grooved.

The sheets are fed one at a time in succession (by hand or by automaticmeans) upon the table l5 and along the same to the grooving device. Thelatter is shown as consisting in part of a shaft It extending at rightangles to the path of the sheets and it is mounted in bearings inbrackets I! on the frame of the machine and above the path of travel ofthe sheets over the table l5. The shaft carries one and preferably anumber of grooving members which may be revolving routing knives butpreferably these members are circular discs Ila of hard abrasivematerial, such as emery or carborundum. The discs are mounted to revolvewith the shaft Hiand they are spaced apart thereon as by sleevesla'mounted upon the shaft between adjacent discs. The vertical center ofthese discs willobe spaced from each other the width of the strips to beformed by the machine.

The shaft l6 and the discs Ha carried thereby will preferably berevolved at high speed in an anticlockwise direction in Figure 2, sothat,

the waste material cut from the sheets will be thrown'forwardly by thediscs, to be drawn off by suction by the suckers IBextending from thepipe 20 to which a suction blower (not shown) may be connected.

Suitable rollers 2|, 22 may be arranged just above the top of the tableI5 to act as propelling means to propel the sheets just in advance ofand following the grooving discs. Feed rollers may be placed at anyother locations found necessary. The feed rollers 2|, 22 will berevolved clockwise in Figure 2 to propel the sheets from right to leftin this figure.

The number of discs l'| arranged on the shaft I6 will depend upon thenumber of strips to be formed side by sideand the number will preferablycorrespond with the width of the sheets M which are to be fed to themachine. While I l have shown eleven such discs in the drawing, it

will be obvious that the number may be less or greater than this.

The discs will be so spaced from thetop of the table that when thesheets travel over the table and under the discs the latter will routout the material to form the grooves 2 the depth of which may be onehalf the thickness of the sheets. 2

The'feed rollers 2|, 22 will not only propel the sheets but keep themdown. on the top of the table so that the grooving action of the discswill be, controlled.

As the sheets leave the grooving discs they are acted upon by cutters orstrippers which divide the sheet into individual strips each striphaving one of the grooves 2. The type of stripper shown in the drawingis one which acts by a shearing action upon the sheet. For instance,below the table l5 there is a laterally extending shaft 24 onwhich aremounted a number of spaced shearing members 25 which project through anopening 26 in the table, to a point above the plane of the top of thesheets as they travel over the table. Above and parallel with the shaft24 there is another shaft 21 disposed above the table, and on this shaftthere aremounted the spaced cutters 28 which revolve with the shaft 21at high speed. These cutters are sharpened on one side of their edges asshown in Figure 1, and these sharpened edges overlap the side faces ofthe lower members '25 so that the lower points of these cutters extendas far down or a little farther than the plane of the top of the tablel5. The cutters 28, there being ten shown in the drawing to correspondwith the eleven grooving discs H, are so disposed that they lie invertical planes which are disposed between the vertical planes of thediscs Ila and in the drawing they are shown midway between the same.

Operation The sheets H! are fed from the table |3 one at a time over thetable top l5, so that they pass first under the propelling roller 2|,thence under the discs Ila, thence under the propelling roller 22. Fromthere the sheets travel along the table It: being propelled by therollers 2| and 22 until they engage with the cutting members 28 andwhich act on the sheets to cut them into individual strips I, and thenthe strips leaving the cutting device maybe disposed of in any desiredmanner. i

As the sheets pass under the discs Ila the latter operating at very highspeed rout out .the grooves 2 in parallel relation upon the sheets, onegroove being formed in line with each disc |'|a. These discs will routthe grooves 2 to the desired depth, which is preferably half thethickness of the sheets, so that as the sheets leave the grooving devicethey will have as many grooves 2 running parallel with each other andequally spaced from each other, as there are discs Ila. When the sheetspass the slitting de-, vice, they are cut into strips of equal width,each strip having a groove 2 either at the middle thereof or nearer oneedge, as desired. Where there are eleven discs I'Ia forming grooves inthe sheet, there will be ten slitting discs 28. As the discs Ila revolveanticlockwise in Figures 1 and 2,

the material removed to'form the grooves 2 will be thrown to the rightin Figure 2 from the disc, and this material will be sucked up throughthe nozzles l9 and the pipe 20 and will be disposed of in any desiredmanner.

It will be apparent from the above that I have provided a machine and amethod wherein a number of longitudinal grooves are formed in parallelrelation on each sheet and immediately following this the sheet is cutor divided into individual strips each having one of the grooves.Therefore, I am enabled to simultaneously form a number of strips inparallel relation. Whereas individual strips have been fed in successive.re-

'lation to form single strips at a time in prior machines, under thepresent method it is possible to form a number of strips in parallel.relation at the same speed that single strips were made u nder previousmethods and, therefore the production under my method is much greaterwith a given machine than under other methods.

The rings,-as shown in Figure 5, which are made from my improved strip,are relatively stiff for any given weight of stock used in making them,so that they form a very firm ring for attachment to the packages. Ifdesired, the rings shown in Figure 5 may be scored crosswise at oppositepoints to permit the rings to be collapsed during shipment. Thepropelling roller 29 may be disposed just ahead of the cutting membersto assist in propelling the sheets through the cutting device, and asimilar propelling roller 30 may be disposed following the cuttingmembers.

If desired, the sheets I4 may have applied to I them by pasting thereto,a paper covering 3| of suitable color or decorative type, to give therings a finished appearance since the body of the ring will often bemade of cardboard of rather indefinite color. If such a finishing paperis applied to the sheets, it will in no way modify the method ofproducing the rings. In this case the sides of the sheets having thecovering 3| will lengthwise of the strip and shaped to ring form withthe groove on the inside and secured at the ends, said groove when thering is applied'to the plate or support engaging the perimeter of theplate or support with the walls of the groove clamping the cover sheetto opposite faces thereof.

2. A ring for application to a plate or support to secure a cover sheetthereto and form a package, consisting of a strip of fibrous materialhaving its ends reversely chamfered and a portion of the materialremoved from one face to form a groove extending lengthwise thereofshaped to ring form with the groove on the inside and the chamfered endsoverlapped and secured in said condition, said groove being adapted forthe engagement of the perimeter of the plate or support when the ring isapplied thereto with the Walls of the groove clamping the cover sheet tothe opposite surfaces thereof.

3. A method of making rings for application to plates or supports toform packages, which consists of reversely chamfering the opposite endsof the sheet, removing material from a surface of the sheet tosimultaneously form a' plurality of grooves extending partly through thematerial longitudinally of the sheet, severing said sheet intermediatethe grooves into a plurality of strips, and then shaping the strips toring form with the chamfered ends in overlapping relation and securingthe ends of the strips in said condition.

4. A method of making rings for application to plates or supports toform packages, which consists of reversely chamfering the opposite endsof a sheet, removing material from a surface of the sheet tosimultaneously form a plu rality of parallel grooves extending partwaythrough the sheet and immediately following said grooving operationdividing the sheet along a plurality of parallel lines intermediate thegrooves to divide it into a plurality of strips, and then shaping thestrips to ring form with the chamfered ends in overlapping relation andsecuring the ends of the strips in said condition.

5. A method of making rings for application to plates or supports toform packages, which consists of reversely chamfering the opposite endsof a sheet, removing material from the sheet to simultaneously form aplurality of parallel grooves extending longitudinally of and partwaythrough the sheet and severing said sheet intermediate the grooves intoa plurality of strips, shaping the strips to ring form with thechamfered ends in overlapping relation, and securing the ends of thestrip in said condition.

6. A method of making rings for application to plates or supports toclamp cover sheets thereto and form packages, which consists inproviding a strip of fibrous material, reversely chamfering the faces atopposite ends of the strip, removing material from a face of the stripintermediate the side edges to form a groove therein extendinglongitudinally of the strip, said groove terminating within thechamfered face atone end of the strip and extended through the chamferedface at the opposite end of the strip,shaping said strip to ring formwith the groove on the inside and the chamfered end through which thegroove is extended overlapped by the opposite chamfered end, andsecuring the strip in said condition.

7. A method of producing material for making rings for securing coversheets to plates or sup ports to form packages, which consists ofreversely chamfering the opposite ends of a sheet of fibrous material,removing material from the sheet to simultaneously form a plurality ofgrooves extending partly through the material and longitudinally of thesheet with the one end of the grooves terminating within a chamfered endof the sheet and the opposite ends of the grooves extended through theopposite chamfered end of the sheet, and immediately following saidgrooving operation severing said sheet intermediate the grooves into aplurality of strips.

CHARLES G. HENSLEY.

